Reid My Mind Radio is simply my space to share stories that you may not get anywhere else. Well, at least from my perspective and told in the way I like to tell them. Occasionally I share stories around my own experience of blindness.

Maybe you wonder why? Well, why not! Everyone has a story to tell. It’s up to you to find the relevance, the meaning. It’s up to me to find the focus, keep it moving and hopefully make it sound cool.

There’s a few ingredients to doing that, the first is my theme music!

Audio: Reid My Mind Radio Theme Music

TR:

Listening to podcasts can be an intimate experience. Just think about it, if you’re wearing earbuds or headphones especially, the person speaking is right there. As a listener I know I have come to feel as though I know the person on the other side of the recording.

As a producer, not only do I get to interact with the guest during our conversation and email exchanges, I’m editing their words. By the time you hear the end result I listened to what they had to say for hours.

Add in the fact that my guests are often impacted by disability so we have a shared experience.

Well I’m not ashamed to say that I often become very fond of guests. Not in a creepy way, rather I become a fan, a cheerleader on the sideline routing for their success.

The three 2017 Holman Prize winners are a great example of this. Each having a specific aspect of their life in common with mine. So watching them from a far fulfill their Holman Ambition was exciting and in some way I felt emotionally invested.

In the next three episodes I’m bringing you an update directly from Ojok Simon, Ahmet Ustenel and we begin with Penny Melville Brown.

PMB:
Is that you?

[TR in conversation with PMB:]
That is me! (Laughs…)

PMB:
Helloooo!

[TR in conversation with PMB:]
Hello Penny, how are you?

TR:

Yes, she was expecting my call, but who wouldn’t like such a kind greeting. Plus, I love the British sayings….

PMB:
I actually had it in my hand so I wasn’t going to make a big breakfast of it.

[TR in conversation with PMB:]
Laughs!

TR:

Remember Penny Melville Brown? She’s the 2017 Holman Prize winner and host of Baking Blind where she cooks up new recipes each episode giving viewers an empowering taste of blindness and disability.

Here she is from our original 2017 episode

PMB:

My first career was in the Royal Navy.

[TR in conversation with PMB]
Why did you want to enlist in the Royal Navy in the first place?

PMB:
I needed a complete change of life.

[TR in conversation with PMB:]
What were you doing prior to that?

PMB:

Well I was at university so I completed my degree. I done a postgraduate qualification. I was due to get married the following year and my fiancé was killed in a car accident so I decided that I needed a complete change.

[TR in conversation with PMB]
Oh, I’m so sorry!

TR:

When I spoke with Penny and the other Holman Prize winners, it was shortly before they actually received their prize at the San Francisco Lighthouse.

[TR in conversation with PMB:]

So what I thought we could do was kind of go back and revisit when you were in San Francisco. Just tell me a little about what that was like getting your award and meeting your other Holman prize recipients.

PMB:
San Francisco was really exciting and I was introduced to this delightful facility called Lighthouse. They have lots of functions and facilities on three floors to support visually impaired and blind people. And lots of very positive people who understand the sort of challenges we face and have got lots of answers for it. That was really positive.

TR:
The Lighthouse had a week of activities scheduled for the inaugural prize winners.

PMB:
I did some cooking in their training kitchen. I did cooking in a really super restaurant called One Market. Lots of good experiences even going on the beach to be near the Pacific Ocean which I hadn’t done before. And that was great!

TR:

After the week long Holman festivities Penny was slated to kick-off her Baking Blind global adventure.

Among the many destinations that would take her to six continents, China Live , in San Francisco’s Chinatown was her first stop.

PMB:

Where I was cooking with this absolutely exceptional top chef called Louis.

TR:

San Francisco has lots of flavor!

PMB:

A place called Brown Sugar. Cajun Creole cooking and they were showing me how to make southern fried chicken and waffles and shrimp and grits.

The Cheeseball Collective – they make lots of Sourdough breads and they’re famous for their pizza.

And that’s where we celebrated The 100 years Centenary Celebration of the Women’s Royal Naval Service.

Then I came back to the UK for a week to catch my breath.

Audio: Airplane taking off!
Then I was in Chongqing in China. That is the biggest city in the whole world!
It is amazing, vibrant, inspirational, colorful, friendly, buzzing…

There I cooked with professional chefs in the hotel, but also with home cooks.

We also supported a couple of local blind women who really get no training on cooking at all. When the professional Chinese chefs took them onboard it was quite heart stopping.
The empathy between them, the care with which they were showing these young women how to cook probably for the first time in their lives. I just stepped back and let them get on with it.
One of the most important touching events of being there.

Audio: Airplane taking off!

TR:

Then we head down under to Australia. I’ll let Penny

PMB:

A place called Kiama! I think that’s how you say it.

We cooked with some local home cooks, but also with an Aboriginal chef. And that was really amazing.

TR:
During the trip, Toby, Penny’s nephew and camera man along with a friend were swimming in the sea and got caught in a undercurrent.

PMB:
So we had 4 police cars, 2 paramedic units 2 helicopters doing an air sea rescue for them.

Another 5 ten minutes at least one of them would have been gone.

## TR:

Fortunately, everyone turned out ok.

After cooking with some other blind cooks in Sydney and doing more in Perth, Penny was off to Malawi.

PMB:
In Africa. We flew into the capital LiLongwe. and we stayed at a really unusual hotel called the Latitude Hotel.

They use a lot of recycled items in their decor.

TR:

Getting out and cooking in the community was always one of Penny’s top priorities. In Malawi, she had the chance to observe a celebration for a village leader and meet with members of the Albino community.

PMB:

They face huge problems in various parts of Africa.

Because they don’t have pigmentation in their skin, they are very prone to skin cancer.

They have significant problems getting employment , being socially integrated. The propensity for Albinism out there is quite high.

In the past a lot of them have been attacked because their bones are considered to have ritual magic properties. So Albinos will be killed. Their bones will be dug up and exported for ritual magic.

They’re an incredibly vulnerable group.

TR:

Being with the people further expanded her concept of how cooking is done around the world.

PMB:
A couple of bricks on the ground. Some fire between the bricks and a pot stuck on top of it.

The chicken arrived live and had to be taken away and head cut off, plucked. It produced eggs during this process which were dually cooked. It was breath taking stuff.

It was a real privilege to spend some time with them.

Audio: Air Plane

And then I came home. And I was over in France just before Christmas looking out for some new cooking opportunities when I had this big accident.

Audio: Sad music & ambience

I don’t really remember the accident

TR:
That’s the car accident in France that left Penny in a coma for 6 weeks. Intensive care for 2 months followed by a lot of physical therapy in a rehabilitation hospital.

PMB:

Because I’d broken my C2 Vertebrae. To be honest, I very nearly died.

I broke all the ribs down my left side, my sternum, another vertebrae lower in my organs got a bit bashed up too. I was in this sort of corset for gosh, nearly three months I think where they had to support my head and stop me moving because everything was so vulnerable because it was all this broken bone waffling around my spinal cord. Being Blind I didn’t understand what was going on all over my face so they had to tie me up so I couldn’t pull the tubes out. because if I had they wouldn’t been able to put them back and I would have died. All that time in bed meant that I had huge muscle wastage. Regrettably I didn’t lose any other weight, but I lost a lot of muscle. Then it took me about three months to learn to walk again and to build the strength just to sit up, just to stand up to walk.

So now I’m going through ongoing physio therapy, a bit of speech therapy because it affect my voice just a bit, I got a bit of PTSD… o gosh it’s all stuff and I’m getting through it.

[TR in conversation with PMB:]

Wow!

First of all I’m so happy that you are on the phone and you sound well. It sounds like you’re getting well?

PMB:
I am. I’m full of beans.

[TR in conversation with PMB:]
Laughs…

The reference to beans and being full of them would have a whole different connotation in the states. Laughs…

PMB:
Laughs…

Perhaps if you think of jumping beans. How’s that?

[TR in conversation with PMB:]

Ok, ok, yeah, I know… it sounds, it sounds lovely!

TR:

But really, I’m just glad she’s recovering.

In addition to focusing on her rehab, Penny’s publishing the videos, recipes and blog posts documenting her journey.

PMB:

Oh I didn’t tell you about Costa Rica where we got caught in storm Nate.

TR:

For that full story, videos and more you’re going to have to go over to Baking Blind.com or visit her YouTube channel by the same name.

PMB:

Which I hope all your listeners will go “Like” and comment and particularly subscribe to.

TR:

Observing the Holman Prize winners from a far, you may not stop to consider the amount of planning and project management that goes into fulfilling these ambitions. Think of the details.

So of course I wanted to know what lessons were learned along this journey.

PMB:

I learned some French in hospital! Laughs…

TR:

Talk about making the best of a bad situation.
But she has more.

PMB:

I learned to try and pace myself which I don’t.

Life should be an adventure. You should go out and meet the challenges and not be frightened.

[TR in conversation with PMB:]
Based on the experience that you had, I’m sure that there are people who would say you see that’s why I don’t go anywhere, that’s why I don’t do anything because this could happen. You’re not saying that. You’re saying don’t be frightened. How can you say that after all that you’ve been through?

PMB:
Well, I think being organized is really important. You know what you’re going to do where you going to do it. You have it all accessible to you. In audio or whatever you want to do. You have it all mapped out but then you play a bit of it freestyle. Otherwise life would be very dull.

TR:
Dull is not how I would describe Penny or her Baking Blind global experience.

Her final lesson sounds pretty consistent with this podcast.

PMB:

Enjoy people

It was always the people that were most important. Recipes were ancillary the cooking was ancillary. Always it was the people.

[TR in conversation with PMB:]
What are you going to do after this year is over?

PMB:

I would just like to show there’s a different way of living if you’re willing to go and take the chance.

I would love somebody to say come and do Baking Blind with us.

I am perhaps going to manage a book out of it, but I could do with a publisher. Anybody knows of a publisher get in touch. But otherwise suppose I’ll just putter back to my kitchen and do humble cooking again. No, I don’t think that’s me at all do you?

[TR in conversation with PMB:]
No! Laughs…

PMB:
Laughs…

I’ll be looking for new adventures.

[TR in conversation with PMB:]

Good!

TR:

Like the end of a good movie, this is The Adventures of Penny & Baking Blind part one.

Whatever the next adventure is I hope she will share it here with the Reid My Mind Radio family.

Make sure you all go and subscribe to her YouTube channel and check out Baking Blind.com for more on her adventures.

Next time, we’re going to hear from the Captain, Ahmet Ustenel who was kayaking the Bosporus Strait from Europe to Asia, solo!

Don’t miss that episode or any other. Subscribe to the podcast.
We’re available from Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, Tune In Radio, Sound Cloud and your favorite podcast app. You can always slide on over to Reid My Mind.com. Say it with me…
R E to the I D! Spelled like my last name.

This third segment features Ojok Simon. Attacked as a boy in Uganda by the infamous army of Joseph Kony, hear his journey to becoming one of the first three Holman Prize winners as an Entrepreneur who is about more than just bizzzzness!

Resources

Transcript

TR:
What’s up RMM Radio Family…I’m excited for another Holman Prize winner story, but I’m also a little down. It’s the third in the series of 3!
Well when I get down, I sing the blues.

[Audio: Muddy Waters, Honey Bee]

TR:
Nah, I’m not blue! Let’s Go!

[Audio: Reid My Mind Radio Theme Music]

TR:

Today we conclude our three part series featuring
all of the Holman Prize recipients.

The prize is named in honor of James Holman. Known as the Blind Traveler, Holman completed a series of solo journeys taking him to all inhabited continents.

Sponsored by the San Francisco Lighthouse $25,000 is given to each of the winners who are all legally blind and in their own way exhibit the adventurous spirit and attitude of James Holman

In order to meet our third winner, I had to travel to Uganda in East Africa. Well, via Skype!

Ojok:

I am Ojok Simon from Uganda. I am from the northern district of Gulu.

I was a child growing up in a rural community. I used to play a lot with all my fellow peers. We enjoyed hunting for wild honey . We liked playing hide and seek games. I used to have a lot friends. many people would come and play around with me . they would come to listen to my stories . I liked creating jokes . I liked giving tough predictions in the future. So I’m that kind of crazy person.

My ambition was to be a military doctor.

TR:
Sounds like what we would think about as life for a young boy.

However, during the late 1980’s
Joseph Kony came into power and his Lord’s Resistance Army
terrorized Northern Uganda.

The LRA is Known for forcing children to serve in their army and
all sorts of brutal atrocities.
At 9 years old, Ojok’s home in Gulu was the site one such incident.

Ojok:

They found me and my mother were still in the house. And they thought that being a child I was going to run away. So they started to beat me at the temple of my head using the butt of the gun. I fell down with a lot of pain. I didn’t know and my parents didn’t know that there was that kind of internal injuries of my sight. After three years they started to realize that my vision started deteriorating and there was no medical attention that I could seek because everybody, every area was in war. The doctors live in fear so you can’t get medical attention. After five years I had to go and join the blind school. Even when I was trying to seek the medical attention through the blind school there was no equipment so that they could help me so I had to remain with the condition like that.

TR:
That condition Ojok described is low vision. It’s important to note that the School for the Blind in Uganda doesn’t take acuity into consideration when creating the curriculum. Everyone is taught Braille for example, large print is not an option.

Another part of his studies included what Ojok refers to as psycho social support or therapy, which is what helped him eventually come to terms with the
permanence of his condition.

Yet, at 9 years old with lots of friends looking up to Ojok that adjustment had to be difficult.

Ojok:
When I was growing up as a boy among my friends I used to like Football. I used to play like a goal keeper so when my vision started losing I started losing friends because I could not handle the ball the way they feel like their leader should be. They said you are blind so cannot associate yourself with us. Life became horrible. To make the matters worse we used to love hunting for wild honey.

[TR in conversation with Ojok]
I don’t know anything about hunting for honey, like what is that process like?

Ojok:
Hunting for wild honey, it’s wild honey ok… of course we live in a community where a lot of bees swarm ok. They keep moving around looking for their house so that they could get accommodated like the hive, but people doesn’t take care of providing a house for the. Now the bees will end up handing on the big thick trees .

[TR in conversation with Ojok]

When they find that honey, there’s no bees there? The bees are somewhere else?

Ojok:
No the bees will also be there because they live together and protect the honey because you know honey is a food for bees as well.

[TR in conversation with Ojok]

… right, but how do you deal with the bees when you’re trying to take the honey?

Ojok:
They do it in a local way. They will get fire and they will burn the bees. Now when the bees run away, that’s when they will harvest the honey. They will not take care of the bees. Now for me it became a challenge because imagine with your poor vision climbing up the trees and trying to move and walk on the branches, balancing so that you can go and remove the honey. So since for me I like also moving in the bush during the daytime because I have some little sight I would get where the honey nests are but at night I could not locate the situation so my peers use that opportunity so that they can get the wild honey . They would take it to their grandparents, they will receive a lot of praises, they would sing them that they are great men and served them with the good food. So now I’m missing those love from my grandparents.

TR:
Chances are, you’re like me. You probably don’t know much about wild honey and didn’t realize it had such value. As we will see, this is just the bee ginning of all this sweet nectar has to offer.

Ojok:

While I was pursuing my studies one day during holiday… Remember I told you that we are also in the war torn area, people then were taken to concentration camps. I was now walking around our broken home where we used to stay. Now while I was walking around there, bees were stinging me from all directions. Then with my poor vision I was trying to run. The direction where I was running that was where the bees were coming from . Then I came across an abandoned clay pot. it was just on the ground. There were bees in that clay pot and I said wow now what can I do. Then I went back home and I came back now because this is on the ground and is in the area where I know , then I harvested the honey. I took it to my mother. She became happy eating the honey.

TR:

Realizing he could easily harvest the honey from this more accessible method, Ojok devised a plan. While his mother was out of the house, Ojok
helped himself to one of her clay pots.

Ojok:

Who has taken this pot of mine… who has taken this pot of mine?

I don’t know… I even denied so, I got the pot and took it next to the one I found in the abandoned home and left those there. Now two pots. I went back to school. Now during another holiday I came back and found both pots are colonized with the honey. And that became the turning point for me.

TR:

Harvesting the honey, Ojok was once again able to surprise his mother.

Ojok:

I took it to my mother and she said hey where are you always getting this honey. I said yes, I have my techniques.

TR:
Ojok admitted to his mother that part of his technique included taking her pot…
His make shift hives produced more honey than his family could consume.

Ojok:

Some of my friends, they started being friendly to me because they want to eat the honey. If you want to eat the honey be my friend so that I can sell you.

TR:

Hiving Bees and harvesting the honey using
clay pots isn’t very sustainable. Drawing the bees away with fire in order to gather the honey, kills some of the bees. Reading more about the process of Bee Keeping in Africa Ojok invested in a new type of hive, while still pursuing his Bachelor’s degree.

Ojok:

I found now they were selling a hollow tree. They would cut the log of a tree then they would produce a hole inside. There are doors so that the bees would stay inside. Bee keeping was not for commercial or social change but just because I love eating honey I want to get praises. So I just continue with the bee keeping. After my formal studies I returned back to my village. I started doing human rights activism for people with disability through the convention on the rights of people with disabilities.

TR:
As an advocate, Ojok was informing others with disabilities about their human rights and how they could live independently.

Remember, Bee keeping to Ojok was a hobby, but his advocacy work led to his discovery of more possibilities.

Ojok:

Then I started meeting some of my fellow blind people that we used to live with them during the school time, but they did not finish their studies. And now they were saying their poor. they don’t have any source of income. I would spend all of my salary on them. When they asked me for soap, I’d give them. When they asked me for something little I’d give them. Then I asked myself self, how long would I keep on helping people like this? Is this really sustainable?

TR:

Ojok’s two original clay pots turned into 12 income producing hives. He wondered why such an idea couldn’t do the same for others.

Ojok:

They don’t have any source of income but for me I’m getting my normal salary. But on another side, my hives are also there. After 7 years I resigned. I decided to go for Entrepreneurship training in India with the organization called Kanthari, which is Braille without Borders.

[Audio: Oprah Winfrey Show featuring sabriye tenberken]

TR
sabriye tenberken started the first school for the blind in Tibet – where blindness is viewed as a curse for something done in a prior life. This school formed the foundation of Braille Without Borders, an organization empowering blind people to take their lives in their own hands.

In 2005 she co-founded kanthari in Kerala, South India. Kanthari fosters participants from all over the world, who, like Sabriye, have a passion to make the world a better place and the strength to be forces of good rather than victims of circumstance.

A kanthari is a plant that grows wild in every backyard of Kerala, a small but very spicy chili with a number of medicinal values. It’s also a symbol for those who have the guts to challenge harmful traditions and the status quo, who have fire in their belly and
a lot of innovative ideas to make a positive difference.

Ojok:
Then I came back. I started now launching my idea venture of providing employment to blind people. Then I started training 22 blind and low vision both men and females from the age of 20 and above. My target is to target those who are already out of school so that they can get employment.

I give them start up kits, like the bee hive. I give them 5 of them each. Then later I started giving them an improved type of bee hive which I too have it’s called Top Bar.

[TR in conversation with Ojok]

Top Bar!

Ojok:
Then I follow them up and I build their capacity and I add them two top bar each.

[TR in conversation with Ojok]

So what’s the difference between that and the other one, the traditional one?

Ojok:
The top bar will produce more honey and then would last longer than the traditional hive.

TR:

The initial 22 students, turned into 38. The lessons, go beyond harvesting honey and
include orientation and mobility, leadership skills

Ojok:

Now something I could not provide they can advocate for their own needs, because bee keeping might not answer all their problems. But it’s just like a spring board.

They started realizing that yes they are human beings. For instance, among the 38 people that I already trained which are practicing bee keeping, three of them actually they have grown more than my capacity. They became recognized in the society even they are now elected leaders to go and defend people who are visually impaired with the local government in the community – which is above me. Even I call them my boss… (laughs)

[TR in conversation with Ojok]

Laughs… How does that feel?

Ojok:
Actually, I feel relief. Inside me I said yes, this is what I want to do. Like a bearing in a bicycle, the bearing is very tiny but it play an important role of making the bicycle to go faster. So I just said yes I’m not being seen but I can see the impact. This has given me the answer I have been looking for.

TR:

Ojok was already seeing some success with his venture. Learning of the Holman Prize competition through his kanthari mentor he submitted his video.

[Audio from Ojok Holman Prize Ambition Video

Ojok:
I would use the prize to empower blind and partially sighted person to be bee keepers in their home. Beneficiaries will be trained in different types of bee hives, introduction to be keeping, honey harvesting, mobility and orientation and they will be sent back to their home to work in their own bee farm. And five years from now I can see blind and partially sighted person being great entrepreneurs…]

Ojok:
When I found out I was a winner I said I can’t believe it…

I think my answer is being well known globally. It’s not only in Uganda because my biggest dream is to create an incubation center that will provide more employment for people with visually impairment through bee keeping by creating a honey factory where they would also now process their honey and they would market and they would do all those things. Those who might not practice bee keeping those who are skillful in other demonstration work and they would also be brought in the system. So after saying that hey I’m I winner I said yes my answer is coming slowly by slowly and I think one day the whole world will know that there are a certain group of visually impaired persons in east Africa in Uganda who are providing the world with tropical honey that is very healthy.

TR:

Creating big goals and achieving them isn’t new to this Holman Prize winner.

Ojok:

I’m the first visually impaired person in my district to go up to the university so I had to show that I can bear fruits. If everything dwells on me then I would carry a lot of burdens. I need them to start carrying their own burdens, but at the moment they’re still dealing with low self-esteem a lot of stigmatization, negative attitude… they still believe in the status quo that if you are disabled or you are visually impaired you cannot do any developmental thing which makes them not so productive.

[TR in conversation with Ojok]

Yeh, and so they start to feed into that mind set and start to believe it and then that’s it, once they believe it they stay there.

Ojok:
Exactly!

TR:

Like James Holman, Ojok Simon has ventured out beyond his immediate surroundings. Forming the right relationships with others who
can support his journey like;
His instructors at Kanthari in India providing Entrepreneurship training.
Working with mentors like Italian Bee Keepers to learn state of the art methods in bee keeping.
Capturing the attention of the San Francisco Lighthouse to
help expand not only his financing but
chances are increasing his exposure and helping him make more relationships to help reach that goal

In the book A Sense of the World, Howa Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler; author Jason Roberts writes about Holman’s encounter’s with François Huber – who Robert’s writes was the most famous blind man in the world at that time.

Losing his sight at 15, Huber’s research is said to have laid the foundations of the scientific knowledge of the life history of the
honey bee.

[TR in conversation with Ojok]

What have you learned from your experience. I mean from that moment where you were 9 and you were getting brutality attacked. It sounds like you had several years of therapy. The dealing with the loss and all of that it sounds like that probably helped you a great deal but in general how do you look back on your life?

Ojok:
When I look back, look back on myself right now I would just say good enough it happened when I was still a child and I managed to cope with the situation, that’s one.

And then two, the best important thing is to have accept yourself the way you are and then learn how to live with it. I’ve learned my weakness and how I can turn my weaknesses into opportunities.
And also I say yes, having the heart of forgiveness. you need to forgive one another. If these people who had beaten me I could get them you’ll just derail yourself from mercy. You just waste a lot of your energy for nothing. You need to forgive them because maybe they did it not knowing . Maybe also they were under certain influences. If they were to come across me I think they would also realize that I’m not saying I’m in a better situation but I might have the material to also help them. If you have the heart of forgiveness even to those of my friends who used to insult me … I’ve forgiven them and now we are still good friends.

[TR in conversation with Ojok]

Wow, how long did that take you to get to that point because, that’s not just about blindness that’s life. And just about everybody can use that. What got you there?

Ojok:
When I look back…

It was a gradual process. One the formal education that I went through. I was feeding my brain with knowledge and though I not yet done it that much, I need to go for my Master’s in the future. It makes me to start analyzing each and every persons act and I say yes maybe they are doing that out of ignorance. Maybe they are doing that because they have not reached the level I have reached. So it took me more than 10 to 15 years when I started learning yes, I need to do this, I need to forgive, I need to accept my situation. I need to learn and do things.

slowly by slowly I was meeting different
characters.

I remember one of my good mentors from Uganda. Sorry she lost her life. She was my good teacher, I think she was also in the World Blind Union that is the late Sandira Frances. She was a totally blind person and she managed to struggle with her life and I was able to learn (from her).

Wherever she is she also feels happy that yes I’ve left somebody who is helping to carry on the work that I’ve been doing.

TR:

Carrying on the work, that sounds like what the Holman Prize is all about.

This brings to mind the African American proverb that dates back to a time it was illegal for enslaved Africans in America to know how to read.

Understanding the power of knowledge those who did learn would teach another. Encouraging them to do the same with the phrase; Each one teach one.!

Blinded as a young boy, Ojok Simon’s life could have easily went down a different path. His ability to find the sweet honey among the destruction left behind in a torn community, wasn’t a onetime thing.

That’s how he appears to live his life.

Ojok is currently engaged and has four children. That includes two young girls who were orphaned and he decided to adopt in order to help spare them what in those circumstances is often a dark future.

If you want to learn more about Ojok’s plans or maybe even see how you can support his goal , you can reach him through his organization’s website. HiveUganda.org.

The official place to learn more about the Holman Prize and even follow the progress of the winners is HolmanPrize.org.

I’m hoping each of these winners will be interested in speaking with me in the future about their progress experiences and of course lessons learned.

I’m Thomas Reid, for Gatewave Radio,

[Ojok from interview: “I love eating honey, I want to get praises!”]

audio for independent living!

[Barbara Streisand’s “Queen Bee” from A Star is Born
The beat loops with background singing what sounds like a bee buzzing….
acapella we hear her sing… “The Queen Bee’s never gonna be alone”
]

## TR:

How freaking cool was that!

I didn’t think this interview was going to happen. I mean connecting via Skype and speaking with someone in my own state can be a challenge. Here’s how it went down.

[Audio collage of TR attempting to get in touch with Ojok via Skype… includes sounds of me drumming on my desk to the Skype music… After multiple attempts which included failure due to storms in Uganda we connected.]

TR:
But Ojok was able to increase his bandwidth on the fly.

I heard about the sophistication of the cell phone market in Africa. So much of the continent’s commerce is done via telephone transactions. The wireless market made that possible without the infrastructure required for wired services.

The cool thing about technology, remember is not the technology but rather what we do with it.

Sort of like the honey… Ojok is harnessing that natural resource to empower others.

This in itself is a powerful statement. If you know anything about how Africa has been repeatedly been robbed of its natural resources, maybe this story takes on another meaning for you.

Big shout out to Ojok Simon, Ahmet Ustunel and Penny Melville-Brown, the first class of Holman Prize Winners.

Join me in wishing them the most success… do what winners do yawl… keep winning!

You too can keep winning… you know what you have to do right?

Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, Tune In Radio or Sound Cloud. Then tell 3 friends…. why three… I told you when we started this series…
[Audio. De La Soul… 3 is the Magic Number!]

Okay, I don’t usually do reviews, but why not go for it! All I can tell you is I did it my way; that’s all I can do!
It took a toll on me… entering my dreams…
I’m going to go out on a limb and say I have the first podcast to include an Audio Described dream! So let’s get it… hit play and don’t forget to subscribe and tell a friend to do the same.

Resources:

Transcript

Show the transcript

TR:

Wasup good people!
Today I am bringing you a first of sorts, a review of an app…

I was asked to do a piece on Microsoft’s new app called Seeing AI.for Gatewave Radio.

The interesting thing about producing a tech related review for Gatewave is that the Gatewave audience most likely doesn’t use smart phones and maybe even the internet. However, they should have a chance to learn about how this technology is impacting the lives of people with vision loss. Chances are they won’t learn about these things through any mainstream media so… I took a shot… And if there’s anything I am trying to get across with the stories and people I profile
it’s we’re all better off when we take a shot and not just accept the status quo

[Audio: Geordi La Forge from Star Trek talk to crew from enemy craft…]
TR:
Geordi La Forge from Star Trek’s Next Generation , played by LeVar Burton, was blind. However, through the use of a visor he was able to see far more than the average person.

While this made for a great story line, it also permanently sealed LeVar Burton and his Star Trek character as the default reference for any new technology that proposes to give “sight” to the blind.

[Audio: from intro above ending with Geordi saying…
“If you succeed, countless lives will be affected”
TR:
What exactly though, is sight?

We know that light is passed through the eye and that information is sent to the brain where it is interpreted and
quickly established to represent shapes, colors, objects and people.

A working set of eyes, optic nerves and brain are a formidable technological team.
They get the job done with maximum efficiency

Today, , with computer processing power growing exponentially and devices getting smaller the idea that devices like smart phones could serve as an alternative input for eyes is less science fiction and well, easier to see.

There are several applications available that bring useful functionality to the smart phone ;
* OCR or optical character recognition which allows a person to take a picture of text and have it read back using text to speech
* Product scanning – makes use of the camera and bar codes which are read and the information is spoken aloud again, using text to speech
* Adding artificial intelligence to the mix we’re seeing facial and object recognition being introduced.

Microsoft has recently jumped into the seeing business, with their new iOS app called Seeing AI… as in Artificial Intelligence!
There’s no magic or anything artificial about these results, they’re real!

In this application, the functionality like reading a document or recognizing a products bar code are split into channels. The inclusion of multiple channels in one application is already a plus for the user. Eliminating the need to open multiple apps.

Let’s start with reading documents.

For those who may have once had access to that super-fast computer interface called eyes , you’re probably familiar with the frustration of the lost ability to quickly scan a document with a glance and make a quick decision.

Maybe;
* You’re looking for a specific envelope or folder.
* you want to quickly grab that canned good or seasoning from the cabinet.

With other reading applications you have to go through the process of taking a picture and hoping you’re on the print side of the envelope or can. After you line it up and take the picture you find out the lighting wasn’t right so you have to do it again.

Using Microsoft’s Seeing AI you simply point the phones camera in the direction of the text

[Audio App in process]

Once it sees text, it starts reading it back! The quick information can be just enough for you to determine what you’re looking for. In fact, during the production of this review, I had a real life use case for the app.

My wife reminded me that I was contacted for Jury duty and I needed to follow up as indicated in the letter. The letter stated I would need to visit a specific website to complete the process. I forgot to put the letter in a separate area in order to scan it later and read the rest of the details. So rather than asking someone to help me find the letter, I grabbed the pile of mail from the table and took out my iPhone.

I passed some of my other blindness apps and launched Microsoft Seeing AI. I simply pointed the camera at each individual piece of paper until finding the specific sheet I was seeking. The process was a breeze. In fact, it was easier than asking someone to help me find the form. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s glancing!

Now that I found the right letter, I could easily get additional information from the sheet by scanning the entire document. I don’t need to open a separate app, I can simply switch to a different channel, by performing the flick up gesture.

Similar to a sighted person navigating the iPhone’s touch screen interface , anyone can non visually accomplish the same tasks using a set of different gestures designed to work with Voice Over, the built in screen reader that reads aloud information presented on the screen.

Using the document channel I can now take a picture of the letter and have it read back.

One of the best ways to do this is to place the camera directly on the sheet in the middle and slowly pull up as the edges come into view. I like to pull my elbows toward the left and right edges to orient myself to the page. Forming a triangle with my phone at the top center. The app informs you if the edges are in view or not.
Once it likes the positioning of the camera and the document is in view, it lets you know it’s processing.

[Audio: Melodic sound of Seeing AI’s processing jingle]

You don’t even have to hit the take picture button. However, if you are struggling to get the full document into view ,
you could take the picture and let it process. It may be good enough for giving you the information you’re seeking.

If you have multiple sheets to read, simply repeat.

Another cool feature here is the ability to share the scanned text with other applications. That jury duty letter, I saved it to a new file on my Drop Box enabling me to access it again from anywhere without having to scan the original letter

Let’s try using the app to identify some random items from my own pantry.

To do this, I switch the channel to products.

[Audio: Seeing App processing an item from my pantry…]

What you hear, is the actual time it took to “see” the product. All I’m doing is moving the item in order to locate the bar code.
As the beeps get faster I know I am getting closer. When the full bar code is in range, the app automatically takes the picture and begins processing.

It’s pretty clear to see how this would be used at home, in the work environment and more.

Now let’s check out the A I or artificial intelligence in this application.

By artificial intelligence, the machine is going to use its ability to compute and validate certain factors in order to provide the user with information.

First, I’ll skip to the channel labeled Scene Beta…
Beta is another term for almost ready for prime time. So, if it doesn’t work, hey,, it’s beta!

Take a picture of a scene and the built in artificial intelligence will do its best to provide you with the information enabling you to understand something about that scene.

[Seeing AI reports a living room with a fireplace.]

This could be helpful in cases like
If a child or someone is asleep on the couch.

[Audio: Action Movie sound design]

I can even picture a movie starring me of course, where I play a radio producer who is being sought by the mob. The final scene I use my handy app to see the hitman approaching me. I do a round house kick…
ok, sorry I get a little carried away at the possibilities.

While no technology can replace good mobility travel skills I can imagine a day where the scene identification function will provide additional information about one’s surroundings.
Making it another mobility tool for people who are blind or visually impaired.

Now for my final act… oh wait it’s not magic remember!

Microsoft Seeing AI Offers facial recognition.
That’s right, point your camera at someone and it should tell you who that person is… Well, of course you have to first train the app.

To do this we have to first go into the menu and choose facial recognition.
To add a new person we choose the Add button.
In order to train Seeing AI you have to take three pictures of the person.
We elected to do different facial expressions like a smile, sad and no expression.
Microsoft recommends you let sighted family and friends take their own picture to get a good quality pic.

The setup requirement, while understandable at this point sort of reduces that sci fi feel.

After Seeing AI is trained, once you are in the people channel
when pointing your camera in the direction of the persons face, it can recognize and tell you the person is in the room.

[Audio: Seeing AI announces Raven about 5 feet in front.]

Seeing AI does a better job recognizing my daughter Raven when she smiles. That too me is not artificial intelligence because we all love her smile!

The application isn’t perfect. it struggled a bit with creased labels, making it difficult to read the bar code.

Not all bar codes are in the database. It would be great if users could submit new products for future use.

As a first version launch with the quick processing, Seeing AI really gives me something to keep an eye on. Or maybe I should say AI on!

Peering into the future I can see;

* Faster processing power that makes recognition super quick,
* Interfacing with social media profiles to automatically recognize faces and access information from people in your network
* lenses that can go into any set of glasses sending the information directly to the application not requiring the user to point their phone
at an item or person and privately receiving the information via wireless headset.
That could greatly open up the use cases.

In fact, interfacing with glasses is apparently already in development and
the team includes a lead programmer who is blind.

Microsoft says a Currency identification channel is coming in the future;
making Seeing AI a go to app for almost anything we need to see!

The Microsoft Seeing AI app is available from the Apple App store for Free 99. Yes, it’s free!

(Back in the bed we see Thomas with a fading dream cloud above his head)

Ends with the app’s processing sound.

TR:
Wow, definitely time to move on to the next episode…

With that said, make sure you Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Tell a friend to do the same – I have some interesting things coming up I think you’re going to like.
And something you may have not expected!

Past guest of the podcast and fashion blogger Steph McCoy of Bold Blind Beauty is here to tell us all about Abigail. Plus she shares some life lessons on creating a business and working towards goals.

Now, here’s what you should accomplish;
1. Listen to this episode
2. Tell me about your goals and any methods or tools you use to stay on track… use the comments or email reidmymindradio@gmail.com
3. Subscribe to the podcast if you aren’t already…
4. Tell a friend by Sharing the episode on your favorite social network!

Resources:

Transcript

So the other day I’m in the park with my family.
I strike up a conversation with someone nearby and introduce myself.
They ask if I’m the host of Reid My Mind Radio!

I couldn’t believe they knew me.

Then all of a sudden another person standing near us over hears the conversation and
says they too are listeners…

Next thing you know the entire park breaks into this impromptu celebration of Reid My Mind Radio!

Fortunately I had my recorder going…
just listen to this…

[Audio: fourth of July Fireworks]

I’m still riding the high from that experience!

Raven: Uh, Daddy we need to talk

TR:
Talk about what?

[Reid My Mind Theme Music]

SM:
Bold Blind Beauty in a nutshell is all about real beauty transcending barriers.

TR:

Say hello to Steph McCoy.
If you’ve been riding with the podcast for a while you may remember Steph.
Some time ago I featured her on the podcast talking all about her blog BoldBlindBeauty.com.

SM:
I started with the purpose of helping blind women with makeup and fashion style beauty that type of thing because as a society we kind of think that people who are blind or vision impaired aren’t concerned with these types of things. And we know now that’s totally not true.

I’ve always been an advocate. I’m 56 years old. It took me about 54 of those years to figure that out. It’s who I am. I’m an advocate. I advocated on behalf of my son who had A.D.H.D. I advocated on behalf of my mother who has a physical disability. It became more difficult when I began losing my sight and then subsequently became legally blind. Now I had to advocate on behalf of myself. It’s easy to do this for other people but for yourself it’s a little different.

[TR in conversation with SM:]

Has blogging, because it’s related to the vision loss, has that in any way impacted your adjustment process?

SM:
Yeah that’s a good question Tom. I actually do think that it’s helped it’s helped exponentially not just myself but others because blogging is hard. It takes real dedication. It’s not just about the writing. It’s the writing and researching it’s taking photographs it’s interacting with people, connecting with people. And every time I would get to the point where I thought you know I can’t do this anymore I just wanted to give up I would get either a phone call or text message or somebody reach me through Facebook or some other means and it would be a blind woman who would say you know I was just reading your blog and I just want to say that it’s so helpful to me, it’s such an inspiration and I love what you’re doing and it’s been people like that that have kept me going.

TR :

Steph said she got a late start on moving on after blindness due to
her Retina Specialist sugar coating the fact that she was legally blind.

A more pragmatic person Steph was ready to just move on with her life.

SM:
Hope is a wonderful thing. It’s awesome, we need hope. But at some point you have to be able to deal with the real issues so you can move on. I had to move on so I could know where I was going to go as far as my job as far as where I was living what I was going to do down the road and I thought
like he was sort of hindering that. Had he been onboard earlier and a supporter of the things that I wanted to do like when I suggested to him that I wanted to learn how to use the white cane and he said oh no you don’t want to do that. That would be a tragedy. See that’s in a sense the negative connotation of how people perceive blindness.

[TR in conversation with SM:]
He said that would be a tragedy? Is that what you said?

Yes! Yes, he said it would be a tragedy.
[TR in conversation with SM:]
Wow! Wow!

SM:
Here I am, trying to be proactive I want to continue with my life and I have this doctor a professional who I am supposed to be looking up to telling me that it would be a tragedy to learn how to use the white cane

[TR in conversation with SM:]

Wow!

TR:

She may have not gotten that quick start, but Steph is definitely in the race.

She’s recently launched her business which began with one person. Well,
fictional person, named Abigail Style.
fictional person, named Abigail Style.

SM:
Abigail, is my white cane icon. She’s a fashionista a real fashionista. I see her in my mind years ago I just didn’t have the ability to create her so a couple years ago I put out some feelers on the blog and a couple people recommended different artists`. I connected with one and I was telling her what I was thinking that the white icon looks like. She drew a couple of sketches for me. We settled on one and voila Abigail was born. As a matter of fact I recently just posted her back story on the blog. She’s just a real go getter.

Abigail is a homanation of ability and Nightingale – small little brown bird that has a beautiful singing
voice. She carries a white cane in her right hand, she has her handbag in her left hand. She has this really snazzy looking dress that sort of resembles banana leaves. They look like they overlap. It’s nifted at the waist, it sort of blossoms out. She’s a little bit hippy(laughs). She wears heels and she has this really cute hair style that was very unique. It just sort of floats in the air. It’s not a real structured sort of hair style. We wanted her to be the unique individual that she is; so she looks unique, she has a unique story, she’s a unique person, but she appeals to anybody not just women, but men and children I mean anybody.

[TR in conversation with SM:]
Is this you alter ego?

SM:

When I first started I thought she was, but as story developed I realized that she is really who I would aspire to be. She knows no fear. She’s
adventuresome, she’s traveled the world. All the things that I would like to do Abigail has done and is doing.

Both Steph and Abigale mean business.
Abigail Style is the E-Commerce component of Bold Blind Beauty.com.
Currently selling slogan printed apparel and novelties like
T-shirts, mugs and other items with messages tailored to the blog’s audience.
Messages like…
Blind Chicks with Attitudes
Hey, I’m walking here
And the Bold Blind and Beautiful series as in …
My Mom, My Sister or My Friend is Bold Blind and Beautiful

And for the men?

SM:
I actually have a few men’s t-shirts as well. The message isn’t targeted to men it’s targeted to women. Like if you’re a father of a young woman who is blind or visually impaired it would say my daughter is Bold Blind and Beautiful or my sister is Bold Blind and Beautiful.

It didn’t occur to me until just a few weeks ago I had all these things designed and I actually did the designs, I didn’t have one thing that said Bold Blind Beauty. I have my URL on the bottom of all the designs but nothing that says Bold Blind Beauty. I am actually working with a designer who is helping me with that so we will be carrying some products that do say Bold Blind beauty.

blind
I want to extend the product line beyond T-Shirts, mugs and tote bags. I would like to do cosmetics as well. As a matter of fact I recently implemented
a steering committee and they’re helping me with increasing our product line. We would love to begin carrying some apparel and jewelry and actually some things that are designed by blind women. I think we’re going to try to partner with other companies to get our brand out there. With Abigail, we call her Abbi. If a company has something that would be appealing to our demographic we would obviously want to have the Abigail brand on that particular item and then we would offer it up through the store. Some of the things that we’re thinking about doing, one thing in particular, the white Cane. We know that
there’s a lot of controversy over adapting them. My philosophy on the white cane is it is a personal choice. I love my white cane. I go everywhere with it but
I also wanted something that was sort of, that spoke to me. So I got a cane from Ambutech. Instead of the red section at the bottom it has a green section. So one of the things I was thinking about for Abigail Style was having a blingged out white cane. Not the entire cane but maybe just the handle with some crystals or the emblem. There’s so many different ways you can go with it. You know just to have fun. Women like to be pretty, they like to feel pretty so why not have a cane that represents that. I have one that’s green and yellow.

[TR in conversation with SM:]
Oh, is it the whole cane or just the bottom?

SM:
I just have the bottom section is green and I think my handle is yellow or it might be vice versa. Even the tip, the tip is a different color. Now the rest of the cane I kept it white but you can design it the way you want to.

TR:

Starting a business for anyone can be a fantastic idea.
For people with disabilities who experience 50 to 70 percent unemployment,
generating income from a business venture can greatly enhance their lifestyle.

That business could be a side hustle, a part time gig supplementing other earnings or income.

This venture, for Steph is more than that.
She’s really going for it – working with the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services for
several years to develop what has become Abigail Style.

SM:

they require that you have a business plan and you know all these different things and they will help you out you know financially with them as sort of
like a matching gift type deal. The person I was working with felt that the blog by itself wasn’t a business, but in my mind in my heart and soul it was. I just couldn’t get it to how they wanted it to be. But now that I’ve brought in these other people, I have a business plan I’m constantly revamping it, we can see how it is what I envisioned it to be and is gonna be bigger.
their IT we
What had to happen we had to narrow the focus because before it got to where it is today you know I was sort of all over the map. It makes sense now and it’s making sense to the customers because they realize they know that it’s Bold Blind Beauty. If they want to purchase something through the E-commerce store they go to Abigail Style, but they’re doing it through Bold Blind Beauty.

[TR in conversation with SM:]
Outside of the fact that you created that character around it why didn’t you just call the store Bold Blind Beauty?

SM:
Yeah I had wanted to do that but when I was setting it up I already had the .com for the blog and I couldn’t do that for the store. Now I could have done some other things but in my mind at the time I was thinking Abigail is the icon and she’s the reason for the store and again I was working with the bureau and they were telling me you know the business you have to have something you have to make money. So in listening to them I went and main the store Abigail Style after this character Abigail when I just should have went according to what my heart was telling me in the first place.

[TR in conversation with SM:]You’re right the whatever product that is exactly what it is so I started on one path once I got to a certain point I realized OK I have to put two things
Either way you make it work.

You kind of said how you were trying this trying that and now you’re getting more where you it’s starting to kind of narrow down and you’re really starting to focus in and get a better sense of the direction and where you’re going. Would you change that if you could go back or is there anything about the process where you think it was helpful. It seems like you just kept going and you figured it out.

SM:

You’re right. The word process is exactly what it is. So I started on one path once I got to a certain point I realized ok I have to tweak some things .

At one point, I forgot to mention, because the bureau was helping me I had implemented an image consulting business because that’s what they wanted
but it wasn’t what I wanted it was what they wanted. And I had to come home after a year, a whole year was put into this with the business plan and everything and after a year I sat down and thought about it. I scrapped it and went back to doing what I was doing and I tweaked it.

I think the moral is to go with your heart, but don’t stop. Just keep going. Just adjust as you need to. You’ll figure it out.

[TR in conversation with SM:]

If I tell you it’s not if it’s not right. The I.D.R. now is it to strive for perfection it’s just do the best I can with what I have. But they’re doing it through both
Yeah, I think we stop ourselves a lot and I know I’ve done that in the past and that’s one thing I realize. It’s best to just keep it moving, man, just do! Whatever it is just do!

SM:
And it’s ok if it’s not right.

[TR in conversation with SM:]

Right!

SM:
The idea now isn’t to strive for perfection. It’s just do the best I can with what I have.

TR:

Although she’s never started a business before,
Steph has worked in different businesses and corporations.

She made use of her technical experience and setup the blog and e-commerce sites herself.
Yet she realizes, she doesn’t have to do it all alone.

That can be really good advice for anyone.

Since we’re talking advice…

[TR in conversation with SM:]
Give some fashion advice for the summer. (Laughs!)

SM:
White is always in – that’s my favorite color for the summer. Everybody who knows me knows I love black. Even in the summer I love wearing black, but this year I have one pair of white jeans so I can wear that at least one time a week… I love them. Strappy shoes sandals. I’ve been seeing a lot of velvet. Like velvet handbags, velvet shoes. And thy’re for summer which is kind of interesting because I’ve always thought of velvet as sort of a winter time type material.
I like trends, I follow trends but I’m not really into trends I am more about styles.

TR:

Listening to Steph’s experience building Bold Blind Beauty & Abigail Style
you can pick up some valuable lessons applicable to more than just business.

Choosing to accept a request to volunteer time and participate in a presentation on
the subject of fashion and beauty care for women with vision loss
directly led to the development of Bold Blind Beauty and the business component.

Her passion for the subject inspired her to really pursue the opportunity.
She put in time to do the research and then all that came after.

She made mistakes. So what? She persisted!
Through that she learned that pursuing her own goals can create a circular flow of goodness.
She inspired others and that flowed right back to her when she needed it the most.

many of us sit on our dreams and never really work towards realizing them.

It doesn’t have to involve starting a business.
Maybe it’s pursuing a new career, hobby or relationship.

Whatever it is…

SM:

I think the moral is to go with your heart, but don’t stop. Just keep going. Just adjust as you need to. You’ll figure it out.

TR:
Not everything is easy to figure out.

Fortunately, Subscribing to this here podcast is simple… even I can do it!
We’re on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, Tune In Radio, Sound Cloud.

And for the final word…

SM:
the website is Boldblindbeauty.com

It’s about walking boldly with confidence, transcending barriers changing the way we perceive one another.

[TR in conversation with SM:]

That sounds like a good way to finish it off right there Steph.

SM:
giggles!

[Audio: Reid MY Mind Outro]

TR:
Peace!

Hide the transcript

Disclaimer: The white cane icon “Abigail B. (Abby)” is copyrighted and was specifically created for, and is the property of, Bold Blind Beauty and Abigail Style, LLC and is not a replacement for the nationally recognized white cane icon.
Abigail (Abby) and her backstory are a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A bit more on our last episode’s guest Jim Paradiso, the Blind Nomad. Since we’re going to discuss some of the feedback received from the episode I thought it made sense to include some conversation around food!

If you haven’t’ listened to that episode titled Fears of a Blind Nomad you should do that before listening to this one.

Better yet, scroll down to the different ways you can subscribe to the podcast!

Transcript

Show the transcript

TR:
What’s good family.

Today’s sort of a first for Reid My Mind Radio.
We’re going to talk about some feedback from the last episode Fears of A Blind Nomad.
Which will include a bit of food talk. Get it!
Talk about Feedback… food talk!
Ok, I like making connections.
[Audio: All You Can Eat, The Fat Boys]
[Audio: RMMRadio Theme]

TR:
I think most people want feedback on things they produce. If you write a book, you want to know whether or not readers enjoyed the story, found the information useful or gained some insight into something they never knew about. What you wouldn’t want is a barrage of comments that are meant to be hurtful or just straight criticism as opposed to constructive critiques.

I don’t usually get too many comments on episodes. There are often a few Likes on Sound Cloud and Facebook and Twitter, but not much more.

I personally thought Fears of A Blind Nomad touched on a lot of issues and would stir up some sort of an emotion in the listeners. I especially thought those adjusting to blindness would have things to say. I’m not sure why but that’s not often the case. I sometimes hope that a topic would stir up some conversation around these issues that those adjusting to blindness have to grapple with. Then again, I’m sure people aren’t that comfortable having such conversations in public.

Fortunately, as a member of the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind which is a peer network of people impacted by vision loss, I asked for some direct feedback.

Some reacted to the ideas, others reacted to Jim and some went beyond.

One commenter wrote:
> I wouldn’t want a newly blinded person to think that they, in six months have to accomplish the amazing stuff that he accomplished. Rather, I would hope that they would take > away that anything they dream of, anything they want to do is possible, despite their perceived limitations.

I agree! In fact, there are certain things that make Jim equipped for living that nomad lifestyle.

Learning a new environment is more challenging to some than others.

Everyone isn’t a trail blazer. Some people do great following a path, a set of instructions while others shine in carving out a way.

Adapting to the local culture is a must. many of us are used to a certain lifestyle that we expect everywhere we go.
Food, for example, can be a challenge. For some!

JP:
The two of us had breakfast. It was $1.25 for both of us.

TR in conversation with JP:
What kind of breakfast would $1.25 get for two… what would that be?

JP:
Well it’s a big cup of they call it Horchata tea, which is a herbal tea they make down here. They serve it in a large beer mug. He had, I don’t know, some sort of a bread that they fry with something in it. I had a couple of empanadas. You know it’s a substantial breakfast. It’s not starvation food.

TR in conversation with JP:
Yeah, yeah!

JP:
It was what he wanted.
The other day I bought him breakfast and it was a full meal. I mean it was rice and soup and meat and everything else and it was $1.25.

TR in conversation with JP:
In the states, people are wondering if you’re having eggs and home fries or omelets or something like that! (laughing)

JP:
The other day I was walking down the street and … I’ll eat anything by the way, I don’t care what it is. They put it in front of me I’ll eat it. I don’t care. So I’m walking down the street and they got something that smells really good on the grill.
It was a buck so I gave her a buck for it. It smelled really good!

It was cow’s stomach.

TR in conversation with JP:
Oh wow!

JP:
With Barbecue sauce!

TR in conversation with JP:

Anything with barbecue sauce is probably good! (Laughing)

JP:
(Laughing ) It wasn’t!

The other thing is they serve guinea pig down here.

TR in conversation with JP:
Oh wow!

JP:
The way the serve it is… they take the fur off it. They cut it down the middle, remove its guts and then they shove a stick up its ass and they throw it on a barbecue grill. It has head and nails and teeth…

TR in conversation with JP:
Oh wow!

JP:
…and they throw it on the barbecue and they cook it that way, they grill it. And again it smells really good.

TR in conversation with JP:
(Laughing)

JP:
I had this thing three different ways and I still don’t like it. It’s like eating a rat.

TR in conversation with JP:
Uh! Don’t tell me you tried that too?

JP:
Of course I tried it… I told you I’ll eat anything, I don’t care. If they serve it here I’ll eat it.

TR:
Honestly, I was sort of surprised to hear that at least one person felt the piece has a whiff of super Crip. I was upset. Not at the commenter but the idea that I may have put
forward that sort of imagery.

That term refers to one of two kinds of stories in the mainstream media when it comes to people with disabilities;
the poor helpless person who can’t survive without the able bodied person in their life
The over achieving;
– Athlete with a disability
– The musical prodigy
These are just two examples. The problem with the super Crip is not that these individuals seek to accomplish these things, it’s promoted as an impossible standard others with disabilities should strive towards. Living a “normal” life as in going to work, raising a family never seems to be enough.

I don’t look at Jim as a super Crip at all. We all have unique talents and qualities that make us perfectly equipped for something. It’s our job to figure that out.

Jim never set out to be this nomad. He chose the lifestyle partially because of a lack of options.

Traveling may not be your thing. Maybe because of real or perceived fears or lack of desire.
Some find it uncomfortable due to physical limitations.

One commenter said:
> the fear of not knowing what was ahead or how I would manage would keep me pretty much on a short chain, the fear of it I guess. I will never be a world traveler, I do not have the desire to do that, but it made me look differently about things I would like to do but have not done yet.

She went on to explain how she left her comfort zone to begin online dating. I can remember a time when that was thought to be a very risky thing to do.

Challenging our comfort zones, I think that really is what Jim is encouraging. And at least one commenter summed it by writing:
> Coming to terms with vision loss can be a tough road to travel. Stories like Jim’s challenge us to continue the journey with renewed determination.

What’s wrong with challenging ourselves?

We can’t all be nomads.
Although one gentlemen poses that as people who are blind, to some extent we may already live the life of a nomad.

“Like the nomad” he wrote;
> who enters a strange land with less than perfect knowledge of the terrain and topography
we as people with vision loss have to ask similar questions and use our skills to ascertain information.

We share the need to orient ourselves both in and outdoors.

We can share access issues;
– In a foreign land the nomad if unfamiliar with the language, can’t really do much with local printed information.
– Interpreting gestures or customs presents a challenge, not because of sight but rather unfamiliarity.

For some, a real need to ask for assistance would deter them, but as the comments’ author wrote::
> Such a position could sadden and inhibit the nomad – as I think it saddens and inhibits so many persons with vision loss – but it does not need to do so…

He proposes that asking for assistance can become a way of making connections and accepting help becomes a way of starting relationships.

For Jim, forming these relationships give him the chance to offer his help and the community while giving him purpose.

As one commenter wrote;
> a blind person’s world can be small unless that person is blessed with a personality to want to expand…

How we choose to interact with people like how we interpret Jim’s story is very much based on individual perspective. Our life experiences, identity and other factors really come into play in how we process what we hear.

Not everyone has the ability to interact with strangers or make friends with ease.

If we work with the idea that being blind already has an element of being a nomad, then I think we can agree that adventures can be found in our neighborhoods or in any aspect of our lives that we choose.

It’s about challenging ourselves.

For one gentlemen who is 70 and has been blind for 20 years now; he finds adventures by traveling to unfamiliar restaurants alone. He wrote:
> Every walk is an opportunity to talk to someone new and share a conversation with a young girl, a guy from Africa or an old lady from Poland. I truly believe a blind person must strive to create the world they want to live in.

Just like a nomad!

Unlike the nomad, there’s no need to search for this podcast;
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